WikiWord

English

transpire

/tɹænˈspaɪ̯ə(ɹ)/ · verb

Meaning

  1. To give off (vapour, waste matter etc.); to exhale (an odour etc.).
  2. To perspire.
  3. Of plants, to give off water and waste products through the stomata.
  4. To become known; to escape from secrecy.
  5. To happen, take place.

Etymology / origin

Borrowed from Middle French transpirer, from Medieval Latin transpirare (“to breathe through”), from Latin trans (“across”) spirare (“to breathe”). The sense “to become known” is also present in French, while the sense “to happen” is not; the latter probably developed in English from the former.

  1. trans(Latin)
  2. transpirare(la-med)
  3. transpirer(frm)
  4. transpire (English)
  5. Relations: bor, der, der

Related words

Sources

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